Welcome to 2017: Los Angeles Lakers Enforcing a ‘LaVar Ball Rule’

Donald Trump is the goddamn President of the United States, so you know the world is batshit crazy. On the sports front, Colin Kaepernick does’t have a job, but Geno Smith does. People are still uncomfortable calling Stephen Curry a top-five player in the NBA.

Oh, and most recently, the Los Angeles Lakers have implemented a LaVar Ball rule. No, seriously, they have. And, according to ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes, this policy is not a new one:

In what many employees at Staples Center view as the “LaVar Ball rule,” this season the Los Angeles Lakers are enforcing “an existing policy” that no longer allows members of the media to congregate in a section of the arena among family and associates of players after games.

Family, friends and agents wait for players in the seats behind the basket closest to the visiting team’s locker room at the conclusion of games. Interviews conducted in that designated area and near the tunnel leading to the arena corridors are now forbidden.

In prior years, media socialized and, at times, interviewed individuals in that sector without interference. If a media member is recognized in that area now, arena security or Laker staffers direct that he or she leave the area.

“It’s not a new policy; it’s an existing policy,” a team spokesperson told ESPN. “There has been more media presence in that area than before. That section is strictly for family and guests of players. It’s a privacy concern.”

This newfound commitment to enforcing the rule only comes as surprise insofar as you’re shocked such a policy exists. It sounds kind of funny upon first read, but then you really start to think about it, particularly in this situation, and it makes sense.

LaVar hasn’t done much to help the Lakers since Lonzo Ball, his son, joined the team. His, um, candor only draws hyperbolic, at times negative publicity. Given all that, sportsbettingdime say that Lonzo’s Rookie of the Year odds have been boosted 10 to 15-percent because of Lavar’s bombast. The feud with Donald Trump is probably his most PR-friendly soap opera to date, and that’s not exactly a good thing. He’s already talked about how social media could make Lonzo bigger than Kobe Bryant and criticized the Lakers coaching staff for how they’re seemingly handling his son with kid gloves.

Don’t worry, though: This shouldn’t impact LaVar’ accessibility too much. He’ll find a way to make himself available. But it does kind of suck for media members who were hoping to fraternize with agents and family members and even players away from the scrums after games.